I don't own Twilight.
Part III — Renesmee Cullen
My head jerked violently sideways.
Immediately, my eyes snapped open and my head started to pound. I was laying … upside it seemed on something black. Sun was bursting through the ceiling and it was so bright that it hurt my eyes. I groaned and blinked slowly. I tried to sit up but it was very difficult. Ugh, what was wrong with me?
"Finally," said a man's voice from beside me. I shot up and the blood rushed to my head; I grabbed my head and rubbed my temples, groaning. I felt a very cold hand on my arm and I gasped, jumping. There was a laugh, like bells. "Hey, calm down, don't have a heart attack. Ha, heart attack."
I looked over. I was in a car that much was clear; there were tinted windows letting in a musky stream of sunlight. Above me, where I thought the sun was shining was actually the sunroof. There was a glass separator from the front of the car, where a man was driving.
Sitting beside me was my own personal Devil … Dominic.
"Wha … What are you doing here?" I croaked my throat scratchy. I blinked slowly to make sure he wasn't some sort of figment of my imagination. He was smiling at me like I was actually a person and not just a … a benefit. What the hell was going on?
He chuckled and his voice was like honey. I slapped myself mentally and blamed it on the fact that I had just roughly woken up about two seconds ago. "We're on our way to the country," he said smoothly, watching me with maroon-black eyes.
I blushed, embarrassed, under his gaze. Then, it occurred to me. I'm not your bodyguard or personal servant. I'm just here to deliver and benefit. I've delivered and so, when you leave out of sight and out of mind tomorrow, I will benefit as well. "But I thought you said that you've delivered and so you're going to benefit. What happened to that?" I paused, smirked. "Can't get enough of me, can you?"
"On the contrary," he said, "I've had quite enough of you and your useless emotions. They're written across your face, you know. Like now for instance, you are confused because I'm here in the car when you thought you'd never see me again. I thought so as well, but plans have changed."
"So know you've decided to become Mr. Nice Guy," I finished and glared his way. He smiled sweetly and looked out the window. After a second or two, I realized that our first conversation was over and I scooted as far as I could from him to the other side of the car.
He chuckled under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear.
The car ride went on, in silence. I was totally bored out of my mind but I watched the scenery go by the car and it was so beautiful. Green hills rose and fell like someone breathing. Cows and other farm animals roamed free of fences and barns. The sky was a bright blue and the sun beat down like it was summer, though it was the middle of winter.
Well, in America at least.
We arrived to a castle after driving up a huge mountain. I really thought that the car was going to break down in the middle of the freaking dirt road. I mean, hello, this is a freaking car going up a freaking mountain. Glad they thought that one through.
Anyway, the castle looked a lot different the one in Volterra. It was tall and rested on a small ledge off the cliff with a forest of trees. The tops were orange and everything looked to be decaying and horrifying but magnificent all at the same time. It was like no one lived here (apart from the multitude of cars out back that is).
Dominic took a deep unnecessary breath. I did too. The smell of pine trees, nature, and a very faint scent of meat cooking wafted around me. Mmm, I thought involuntarily, remembering that I hadn't had anything to eat all day long in the car. They thought that one through as well, huh?
"This way," the Devil said, walking towards the stone building. I watched curiously as he walked up to what seemed to be a garage of sorts. The vampire who had driven us had disappeared back down the hill in the car. Poor guy, I thought without emotion.
There was a small, white box and Dominic was opening it. He punched in a code and the garage doors lifted much like garage doors. And inside, where I assumed there would be dungeons and memorabilia of the 1500's, were instead more cars, a black and red one of some kind.
Dominic looked back to me and raised an eyebrow. Gracefully, he bent down and raised an arm in the direction of the inside. I took a deep breath and sighed. Then, I raised my head up high and walked past him, not giving him another glance.
"Whose cars are these?" I asked, thinking why are on earth there were there two cars parked inside while there were fifty others parked in the trees?
I didn't look at him but I could feel his eyes staring in between my shoulder blades. "They are my cars," he replied. My head cocked to the side in confusion but I didn't ask; I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I was either too stupid to know why his cars were parked here or just the fact that I asked. Because that meant I was interested. And I so totally was not interested.
He sighed. "My cars are parked in here," he said, "because this is my home."
Okay, so I whirled around with a few profanities going through my head. I was wishing that I wasn't so damn readable. He looked at me and chuckled, his arms crossing over his chest, like he was so freaking nonchalant. "I've lived here since it was a small boy, back with the towers were cleaned every day and every night my mother and I had to hide from the bombs."
Wow, I thought, he must be really, really old.
"I'm definately not as old as your grandfather, Carlisle," he said quietly and I oddly felt relieved though I wasn't sure why. It's not like a cared or anything. "I was born in 1925 in London, England where I spent most of my human life. It just about ten years before World War II."
I watched him with curious eyes as he told me his story. "My father's side was extremely rich from exporting alcohol. We used to travel and here is where I remember my human life the most. My mother used to chase me around the courtyard, just on the other side of the castle. This was our summer home." He nodded to the garage and said, "This was added about twenty years ago, seeing that cars were now popular.
"It's also the place where my two favorite girls sleep," he concluded patting the red car affectionately.
Rolling my eyes, I turned back around and started to walk away. I had enough of this 'bonding' which I assumed was going on. I didn't want to befriend the Devil; I wanted to stay far away from him. It was annoying, however, that I seemed to be automatically pulled towards him like a magnet.
He chuckled again and, though I didn't hear him, he was right behind me, following me close enough so I could feel his ice-cold atmosphere. "Where do you think you're going, little Nessie?" he asked from behind me as I reached a door.
I stopped and glared, turning around. "It's Renesmee," I replied coldly, grabbing onto my necklace, feeling my heart clench at the familiar nickname.
He waved off my comment. "Just let me lead," he said, irritated now. I rolled my eyes, huffed, and he walked on beside me. His shoulders were bunched forward, like he was stressed out which he probably was. They looked the same way they had yesterday when I had met Aro for the first time.
"What is this place?" I asked, staring up at the fine brown walls that towered high above me. It was a long hallway with no doors or windows, just dark beige walls and soft lighting. "I mean, why do I have to come here? Why not stay there?"
I heard Dominic sigh; he didn't turn but went down another hallway that suddenly appeared to our right. I stopped for a moment and looked down the hallway, which seemed to never end, and then scurried off after him.
"The Volturi thinks that your family will try to come and save you," he answered swiftly and without emotion. "They want to make sure that you are not found while you are being held captive. They really want to keep you, obviously, because they're taking over my living quarters just to do it."
I was going to reply with something sarcastic, hoping to piss him off, but nothing came to mind. He was just so bluntly honest that it was hard to think of something clever without looking ridiculous or having him look at you like you were ridiculous. I knew that my family would try all they could to save me; I knew they loved me. But why come here in the middle of freaking no where? How would they find me?
Of course that was the point of the whole operation. They didn't want anyone to find me, even after their 'experiments' were over. They wanted to keep me here, locked up forever like a princess in a fairytale, waiting for someone to come save her. However, this wasn't a fairytale. No one would come save me.
We passed a window. And not just any window but a huge window that started on one side of the wall and stretched until I couldn't see anything but light down the hallway. Outside there were … vampires, too fast to be humans, running around after each other, pouncing, ripping while fire scorched the air.
My feet felt like glue and I stopped walking. Dominic must have heard the lack of footsteps in the air and stopped after me though I hardly noticed. I was too busy watching the … creatures outside the window attack each other like animals. I felt bile rise in my throat but shoved it back down; I wouldn't puke here.
"What … what are they doing?" I asked my voice raspy like I had just screamed for hours. Maybe I had … I couldn't be too sure with the quivering, nervous feeling in my stomach.
Dominic sighed and squinted up at the sun. "They are training," he replied. "All future, or current, Volturi members must be able to fight under any kind of circumstance. And since vampires are the deadliest, most incredible creatures in the world, they train with newborns."
I felt my heart race. So they were killing newborns — who could just as well be trained to drink animal or human blood — so their coven could be stronger. I felt bile rise in my throat again, burning and I tried so hard not to let myself hurl.
No here … with these monsters.
"We are not monsters, Miss Cullen," Dominic said quietly from beside me. His voice was cold, distant, as he watched with me. It was then that I realized I had spoken out loud. "Your family, however, are the monsters."
My eyes went free of their hold on the figures below. It was almost in slow motion that I looked over my eyes narrowing at him. "What did you say?" I asked, my voice low, cold, and deadly. Any 'bonding' that we may have had in the garage was all gone. That was a hundred feet ago, things changed.
And I was filled with the deepest hate for the man standing beside me, calling my family names, saying things that weren't true. He didn't even know my family!
"I said that your family members are the monsters, not us," he repeated slowly, as if I was a child. He lifted a hand and rested it on my shoulder. I ripped away from him, stunned. He still watched the creatures from down below running after one another, killing, ripping, burning.
Murderers.
Monsters.
"Why … why would you even say that?" I screamed at him. "We are not monsters! My family and I … we drink the blood of animals. We are humane. We are more like humans than you will ever know! You kill — murder people! You are a monster, a Devil. How dare you say something as vile, as deceitful that my family members are the monsters?"
Tears were prickling my eyes as the faces of my family rushed through my head. Mom, Dad, my uncles and aunts, Grandma, Grandpa, all of the vampires I knew that had adapted this animal blood diet. They weren't monsters. We ate like humans, we conversed with humans. We were not monsters!
"Think about it, dear little Nessie," he interrupted me. "We are all vampires. Vampires crave human blood. The Volturi — as do nearly all of the vampire population — follow their instincts and drink human blood. And then there is your family. They drink animal blood, go to school, and go to work, just like a perfect little human family."
And looked down at me and I shrunk a little under his towering form. His eyes narrowed. "Those who cannot accept their fate are just as good as cowards, monsters. Your family act like humans, not vampires. Those who show such careless weakness, are monsters and do not deserve to be among the living. Or better yet the unliving. Especially families like yours."
My lips were trembling with rage. I did not cry; there weren't really any more tears to cry. I wanted to kill the man in front of me. My family … the people I loved and cherished with all of my heart being degraded to something as low as monsters was disgusting.
Before I really had a chance to stop myself — not that I would have or anything — a sharp slap rang throughout the abandoned halls of Dominic's summer home. My hand stung to where I slapped him and his face was contorted with rage or pain I did not know.
"It's Renesmee" was the only thing I could say and my voice actually scared me. I sounded noxious and hurt, in pain but hateful all the same. I let out a shaky breath.
Rage, I immediately knew when he looked back at me. His eyes were hooded and clearly disgust and abhorrence were carved into his features. This was the most emotion I had ever seen Dominic bear. It scared me thoroughly.
"Don't you ever touch me like that ever again," he said in a scary-calm voice and grabbed my arm, squeezing for good measure I'm sure.
I didn't nod or shake my head, though I came close. I could feel the loathing dissipate from my veins. Fear seeped through and filled my body with a queasy, awful feeling. I could feel the Devil's icy exterior burning on my skin as he held on.
From somewhere, I thought I could hear a wolf howling loudly.
"Mr. Oakly," I heard a new voice say. It was feminine and without a trace of fear; she could probably see the obvious wild look in the Devil's eye but she could handle it. Knowing that I was going to be murdered in front of a witness made me feel just slightly better about the whole 'I'm going to be murdered' situation.
His eyes flickered just the briefest bit to the girl standing too far out of my view. His eyes clearly read, What the hell do you want? (And possibly a few other choice words).
"Mr. Oakly, I'm here to look after Miss Cullen, as you assigned me," she said her voice a little harsh. And I was glad because he seemed to break out of his trance. He looked at her fully and his hand loosened on my arm. Then, he backed up and looked down at himself.
I watched him curiously, trying to decipher his bi-polar attitude. The words he had said were like a muted fire, raging in my belly, but he seemed to be so confused and lost that I felt the same thing I had felt yesterday when he told me his benefit. And had he reached that benefit? It didn't appear so.
Then he turned around and stalked down the hallway, abandoning his human façade. He was gone and out of sight in about two seconds. Still stunned, I turned a little to see the maid who had snapped him out of his murdering gaze.
"I'm sorry about his rude behavior," she apologized quietly. "He's been under a lot of stress lately with the whole Cullen business."
She was very short, shorter than me, with almond shaped eyes and tanned skin. She was oriental but I didn't know from what country whether it be Japan, China, or Korea. She was wearing a pencil stiff black skirt and white ruffling shirt with a black vest. Her black hair was tied up in a tight bun and her eyes were the same maroon black like everyone else's in the Volturi.
But she was … like a servant, not a member. What was a vampire doing as another vampire as a servant? I thought but quickly tried to respond. "Uh …" Great, you're a freaking genius, Renesmee, I chided myself sarcastically.
She chuckled and did a little curtsy. "I'm Hayashi Katherine or Katherine Hayashi as you would say back in the States," she said to her shoes but peeking at me through her eyelashes. "I'll be working at your service for the while in which you remain here." I nodded dumbly.
"Um … yeah, nice to meet you," I said, tugging my hair, thinking that it really was kind of nice to meet her in the whole 'I'm being kep prisoner' sort of way. "I'm Renesmee Cullen, but you already know that." She smiled lightly and I tried to smile back. From the look in her eyes it must have looked like a grimace.
"Your room is right down this hall," she said. She turned around and I eased myself into a walking mode, trying not to look out at the huge killing ground below. I couldn't hear the shrieks of dying vampires or smell any of burning carcasses. The sun was setting slowly, lazily in the distance.
I followed her all the way to a brown door on my right. She opened it for me and I walked inside.
A/N — I know it's a weird place to stop but I need a little more time to think out the rest of her first meeting with Katherine, so I broke up the chapters. Speaking of Katherine, her picture can be found on my site as well as the new castle Renesmee is staying at. Thanks for reading! =]
Okay, as on my profiled, I've gotten a Twitter! Here's the link: w w w [dot] twitter [dot] com / z a p e n b i t s. You can follow me on there and find out things like when I'm writing, updating, and random facts from EAB. Also, I might have little quotes from the next chapters that are not mentioned in the preview. Another thing I'll have are books, fanfiction, and music that I'm reading and want people to look into reading/listening.
So, check that out! As always, previews for anyone who reviews!
-Liz
